Finding news images and video published May 10 by Jacob Hug and Sara Medina, just two days before they and six other Marines and Nepalese soldiers went down in a helicopter in Nepal, is haunting and harrowing.
Few acts are as selfless and honorable as giving one’s own life while helping others. As mournful as I am for their families and for the incredibly small, and smaller still, military visual information community, I am so proud of them.
Will I ever know that kind of dignified and noble respectability?
I found myself mouthing the growing number of people reported lost while reading follow-up reports on the earthquakes: more than 8,500 … eight thousand five hundred … This is a disaster of unprecedented proportion. I remember thinking, they’re going to need our Marines. They’re going to come from Okinawa. Someone is going to have to tell this story.
In three days, Hug and Medina published 70 images and videos documenting the relief efforts in Nepal. These are images that went all over the world. News agencies across the planet depended on their ability to deliver. Oftentimes they and the few other military storytellers out there were the only ones able to document relief efforts in those remote regions. Those first couple days, they were our eyes and ears.
I can’t think of a better team for the job. It’s not just America that needs a U.S. Marine Corps, it’s the whole world. There is a reason the Marines are sent out first. They are always ready. There’s no question if they’ve decided to help or decided to fight. They already made that decision. That’s why they’re Marines.
To my friends both former and current military storytellers, remember who you meet, make friends and make a meaningful connection. It’s a small community. I’m honored to have served with these individuals and with you all. Thank you for what you provide for me and for our country.
Originally published at kyles.work.
